Rapid Construction of Functioning Physical Interfaces From Cardboard, Thumbtacks, Tin Foil and Masking Tape

Rapid, early, but rough system prototypes are becoming a standard and valued part of the user interface design process. Pen, paper, and tools like Flash and Director are well suited to creating such prototypes. However, in the case of physical forms with embedded technology, there is a lack of tools for developing rapid, early prototypes. Instead, the process tends to be fragmented into prototypes exploring forms that look like the intended product or explorations of functioning interactions that work like the intended product - bringing these aspects together into full design concepts only later in the design process.